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Does Microsoft really care about PC gamers?

ThreeDeeVision
Superstar
I am a PC gamer at heart, and have been since about 1992 when I got to try my wealthy friend's Commodore 64. I have owned quite a few consoles as well, but if I could get the game on PC, I played it on PC. Over the years, Microsoft has published many of my favorite PC games (Motocross Madness 1&2, Monster Truck Madness 1&2, Midtown Madness 1&2, Microsoft Flight Sim series, Halo 1&2, Gears of War, Train Simulator, Fable, ect...). For all the awesome titles they put out, there has been a noticeable downward trend for quite some time. Looking at the Microsoft Games Wiki, 2004 was the start of this downward trend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_published_by_Microsoft_Studios

Being that the Xbox came out a couple years prior to this downward trend, this tells me they viewed PC gaming as direct competition to their console market and decided to pull back on making PC games for the most part. The amount of titles directly reflects this decision.

With the recent revival of VR, Microsoft is thrusting themselves into the PC gaming picture again. But are their actions actually matching their statements? They keep repeating "we care about PC gaming", yet the only thing I have seen thus far is the ability to stream a Xbox One to my Windows 10 PC (totally pointless waste of resources) and a Xbox One controller with the consumer Rift :roll:. These are not the actions of a company that wants to push PC gaming, these are the actions of a company trying to push a console.

And lets take a look at the latest console. The Xbox One itself is a hodgepodge all-in-one multimedia unit that is good at doing many things but not that great at doing the most important thing it should be doing, and that is playing games. The PS4 beats the Xbox one in every important gaming area from specs to FPS (not to mention all the awesome exclusive titles). The PS4 will have an actual VR interface next year that will provide real VR experiences, and a Virtual cinema can't hold a candle to that. I still love my Xbox 360 dearly and play it daily, but it isn't trying to be an all-in-one media unit. It does exactly what it needs to do, and does it well.

Next year will finally be the year of consumer VR, and Microsoft is showing up late to yet another ballgame. They lost out on MP3 players (Zune fail), Smart Phones (Nokia fail), and are again behind the ball on the next big technological breakthrough (Virtual Cinema fail). People are looking for the next great gaming experience, and the Star Citizen crowd funding campaign is directly a result of that. They are nearing 100 million dollars of pledge money and the game isn't even done yet! You can't tell me there isn't a PC gaming market, we have put our money where our mouths are!

Instead of providing VR Cinema Xbox streaming that totally defeats the purpose of PC VR and teasing things like "Halo 5 might come out on PC someday", they need to step up and actually do something for the PC gaming community. If you build it, they will come!
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91 REPLIES 91

elboffor
Consultant
@TwoHedWlf i couldnt have said it better myself.

All hail the master race
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Zenbane
MVP
MVP
Everyone who owns a Rift has been holding a stick in each hand when they aren't holding a gamepad.

We need an updated graphic there to include PCVR gear @elboffor 😛

nalex66
MVP
MVP


Tracked controllers are changing the game though.  Actually using both hands to aim a gun like you do in games like Onward is a real game-changer.  Looking down the sights to aim like you would in real life is pretty surreal.


^This. I love KB/M FPS gaming, but using tracked controllers to aim pistols and rifles takes it to a whole new level. I'm pretty damn good at popping off headshots with a mouse, but getting to test my actual hand-eye coordination with real aiming is a blast!

I'm a good shot with my air rifle, but I live in the city, so I rarely get a chance to shoot, and I've never shot pistols in real life. Doing it in VR, I feel like I'm honing an actual skill.

DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3.


Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
Building, holding, and re-loading the Sniper Rifle in Dead & Buried has been my favorite use of controllers to work a gun in all my years of gaming both with a Gamepad and a KB/M.

But let's be honest... Touch Controllers lean more towards Gamepad than KB/M.

Hell, the new Nintendo Switch transforms from Gamepad to hand Controllers now lol





nalex66
MVP
MVP

Zenbane said:

...
But let's be honest... Touch Controllers lean more towards Gamepad than KB/M.
As long as I'm not expected to aim with the thumbstick, I have no objection to its presence. Gamepads are great for all sorts of gaming, but they suck for FPS aiming.

DK2, CV1, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3.


Try my game: Cyclops Island Demo

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
I've executed hundreds of Headshoot kills with: KB/M, Gamepad, and now Touch Controllers.

Moving the cursor with my thumb vs moving the cursor with my hand never felt like a massive leap for me. Both of them involve my hand (lol) so once I acquire that muscle memory it's just all fun n' games.

The higher level of sophistication with PC-based FPS gaming, for me, came from the Keyboard.

Touch Controllers are now my superior choice of all 3 options, by far.

danknugz
Superstar
theres only one reason pads were pushed for FPS and it has nothing to do with game mechanics or ease of use. its simply about money and how to capitalize on the majority of gamers, which unfortunately are console users. thats why i dont really have a lot of respect for the console industry as a whole, everything is just a means to an end of getting rich, whereas one could argue that PC and VR development primarily seek to progress the science of gaming.
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing on forums?

Zenbane
MVP
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danknugz said:

whereas one could argue that PC and VR development primarily seek to progress the science of gaming.


Ah, that's a sentiment I can agree with 100%.

This discussion reminds me of a website I encountered several months ago, when I started playing Skyrim for the first time. I was Googling "Top Skyrim Mods for PC" and reading various blogs and articles. I was reading for over an hour when suddenly I encountered a legit article that had actually been "hacked" by what appears to be a disgruntled worker.

I really wish I would have saved it, or at least screenshot it. The entire article was legit but someone inserted a paragraph at the very beginning that said something like this:

NSFW
Fuck all you cocksucking PC gaming loving bitches. PC's are for nerds that can't get laid. You all think you are so great but you probably can't even stand on your own two feet you fat fucks hahaha


Honest to God that was sitting right atop an otherwise legit article about Skyrim for PC. Only it was about 5+ sentences of far more vulgarity that went on to praise consoles. I will try my best to find it again, assuming it hasn't been corrected by now.

Point being, the only reason I tend to defend gamepads and consoles is because my own personal experiences with them were pleasant. Consoles brought together friends and family in very fun ways over the year. I remember when a friends husband had returned from a military tour, and saw my Xbox with the first Halo game sitting in the living room. He was more excited about that than the fact that he was back home. He stayed up and played it to completion in one sitting. It was hilarious, cause it was his first day back from well over a year.

I love the look the youngens get when they see me playing a PC game, and they are like, "wow that looks awesome but way too hard for me." Followed by the enormous gratitude they express when I take a break from my PC elitist experience to come down to battle them on a console. Two generations sharing the joy of competitive gaming with a common ground. I see only good things in that.

The only time I ever experience animosity towards console gamers... is when I make the mistake of reading wtf they said online. :s

elboffor
Consultant

Zenbane said:

Everyone who owns a Rift has been holding a stick in each hand when they aren't holding a gamepad.

We need an updated graphic there to include PCVR gear @elboffor 😛


done and done 😉
https://forums.oculus.com/community/discussion/49281/the-evolution-of-man

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ThreeDeeVision
Superstar
After E3 this year I have to give some props to Microsoft.  It looks like they are finally moving in a more PC friendly direction as far as games are concerned.  Many of the new game titles for XBox one will not only be available on Windows 10, they will be cross-compatible as well!  I have been playing a lot of Gears of War 4 at 3440x1440 resolution with the graphics maxed out (holding over 90 FPS :open_mouth: ) and enjoying playing with my XBox One friends.  The windows store is finally starting to get some good game titles and E3 showed quite a few games we have to look forward to.  So far I have picked up Gears 4, Gears 1 Ultimate edition, and Killer Instinct Definitive Edition.

The party chat on PC works just like I have the XBox One, which is awesome compared to older windows versions that would allow you to chat one-on-one with XBox 360 and XBox users but not allow you to join parties or play games together.  I opted to get the PS4 for this generation of consoles so it is very nice being able to get some great XBox One games on the PC.  I just wish games like Halo 5 would have been included.

Hats off to MS though, E3 gave me a lot of hope for the future of PC gaming.

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